October: What I’ve Been Reading

Hello! Happy November 1st! How was your weekend? We had a good one, and the kids had a great Halloween.

Today, I’m sharing the books I read in October. I read two, and then as I sat down to write this post, I realized I could add in a book that I read with the English 1 students that I’ve regularly helped this month.

This month I read:

{As always, book summaries are from Goodreads…}

The Wrong Family:

The Wrong Family

Summary:

Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch.

Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son—the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel…

She shouldn’t get involved.

She really shouldn’t.

But this could be her chance to make a few things right.

Because if you thought Juno didn’t have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too.

Quick Thoughts:

I loved this book. It had just enough suspense. I held my breath for Juno on many occasions. The last quarter of the book, when the action really picked up, I was kind of like “huh?…” I wasn’t expecting that character involvement. The ending was creepy but tied the plot all up nicely. I’ve read The Wives by Fisher, and I loved this one so much more.

Rating:

One Day You’ll Thank Me:

One Day You’ll Thank Me

Summary:

The fan favorite star of the Bravo hit series Southern Charm offers a witty and candid collection of essays on dating, pregnancy, and parenthood.

Growing up in South Carolina with a family that goes back ten generations, Cameran Eubanks knew from a young age that Southern women are expected to want the white picket fence life. But Cameran has never been your typical Southern belle, and she was always determined to flout expectations.

She set out to paint the town red, enjoy her single life, focus on her successful real estate career, maybe join the cast of a hugely popular reality show…and then she met her future husband, Jason. After falling in love and getting married, Cameran faced the same dilemma so many women encounter: whether or not to have kids. Ultimately, her own journey to motherhood was anything but simple.

Now, she takes you deeper into her life—from her first foray into reality TV on The Real World to dating in her twenties to the honest truth about her pregnancy and motherhood—to get to know the person behind the camera. Known as the voice of reason on Southern Charm, she’ll share the same honest advice she gives to her castmates and guide y’all through dating, pregnancy, and motherhood. Charming, hilarious, and a hell of a lot fun, One Day You’ll Thank Me is for anyone who has ever wondered if they should or can.

Quick Thoughts:

This book reminded me a bit of the Jenny McCarthy book, Belly Laughs, I read while pregnant with the kids. This wasn’t all about pregnancy, but it definitely was mostly about motherhood. Cameran is one of my favorite Southern Charm cast members (I love that show), and missed her during last season. She definitely tells it like it is on both the show and in this book. I appreciate her sense of humor, sarcasm, and truth.

I enjoyed reading about her days on The Real World. While I realize this isn’t a Southern Charm tell all, I do wish there was more Southern Charm insight.

This was a quick read for me, and one I’d been wanting to read for a while.

Rating:

Honestly, it should be more like a 3.5 star review, but I like her… 😉

Of Mice and Men:

Of Mice and Men

Summary:

An intimate portrait of two men who cherish the slim bond between them and the dream they share in a world marred by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. Clinging to each other in their loneliness and alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, as drifters will, of a place to call their own—a couple of acres and a few pigs, chickens, and rabbits back in Hill Country where land is cheap. But after they come to work on a ranch in the fertile Salinas Valley of California, their hopes, like “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men,” begin to go awry.

Of Mice and Men also represents an experiment in form, as Steinbeck described his work, “a kind of playable novel, written in novel form but so scened and set that it can be played as it stands.” A rarity in American letters, it achieved remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films. Steinbeck’s tale of commitment, loneliness, hope, and loss remains one of America’s most widely read and beloved novels.

Quick Thoughts:

I hadn’t read this novella since college, and I’ve never taught it. I enjoyed reading it with a small group of students because we were able to discuss so much…themes of lonliness, power vs powerless, friendship, character development, the American Dream, the setting and Great Depression time period.

A few favorite quotes:

• “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” ~Lennie

• “As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.” ~Of Mice and Men

• “As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.” ~Of Mice and Men

Rating:

As an English teacher, it feels awkward giving such a classic a less than five star rating, but it was a pretty heavy read with a very heavy ending.

In November, I’m going to read at least one Christmas book, and decided to start with this one:

I won it from a Goodreads giveaway! I’ve enjoyed other books by Kristy Woodson Harvey, so I’m excited to start the holiday season off with this one.

What have you read this month? Next month, I will share the Christmas books I’ve read in the past during the holiday season! I know we are going to blink, and it will be 2022!

I hope you have a great week.

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